It feels that your heart is shattered right now and that's an understatement. It doesn't happen all in an instant; not like taking off a bandage. It's more like a gradual cracking of glass; the more you think about what happened, the more dreadful realizations you arrive at. And everything just starts to slowly break and fall, shock after shock, into tiny shards and fragments that seem impossible to glue back together again.

You feel that you can't trust anyone anymore; not like that anyway. So you put your guards up, high and wide, and let no one come near; at least not near enough to cause another terrible mess.

It's a shame, dear, to enclose yourself in such limiting barriers. You've got so much to give and so much to share with the world. You're here for a reason and we might not know it now but I'm quite sure that it's not to hide away from every horrible guy and their deceitful games.

I admit, our world is so full of pain and chaos but you've got to know that there's more to it than that. You can't lose hope. You can't keep questioning every nice guy you meet and wonder in what innovative way can he hurt you if given the chance. You can't possibly believe that you can completely avoid sorrow and madness; believe me, I've tried. Darkness is inevitable but that doesn't mean that the light won't shine and save you again. In this world, there's also all sorts of kindness, laughter, excitement and other amazing and exhilarating things happening that you don't want to miss out on.

And you know what, you're strong. You're going to survive this heartache and the next one and all the other wretchedness the world's going to throw at you because you've got a brave soul.

​"Sometimes we get so lost in the what ifs that we fail to do something with what's real."

I wrote this piece for all of us who worry about the future; for all the times our minds decided to stay awake at 2:30 a.m. on a weekday to overthink about every shitty life decision we've made; for each second we've spent questioning our choices while wondering what could have been if we had chosen differently; for each one of us who's taken a great leap of faith and has now let fear creep into our hearts; for every time we've faced a terrifyingly life-altering moment, not knowing which way to go.

This is for all of us who's afraid; simply afraid to commit an error and waste more time on mistakes; too afraid to move forward because it's too difficult to face change; and just plain afraid to forego one opportunity for another because we might lose it all.

I wrote this as a reminder to stop worrying about every little thing and instead, begin with doing at least one thing that will bring you closer to what you want in life; to urge you to follow dreams that are bigger than you even when no one understands; to tell you to recall why you took a leap of faith and why it's worth the risk; to stop you from focusing on what could go wrong --because things could always go wrong -- and to remind you that you have the capabilities to get through it when that happens.

Whether we accept it or not, millennials are now going into adulthood. Some of them are finally getting married; and they're making their own rules when it comes to wedding planning.

I, myself, am a millennial. But my mind's not into marriage yet. I don't have a Pinterest album for my future wedding. I don't know yet where my dream wedding would take place nor have I partially daydreamed about the reception. So when a friend's sister, Kristine, first asked me if I could do her wedding invitations, I had no idea why she chose me.

I've already helped Kristine and my friend with graphic design for a handful of projects by the time she approached me with her request. She also knew from my Instagram that I practiced brush lettering as a hobby. And you would say, well, there's the reason why she chose you!

But I also knew that, like any responsible bride-to-be would do, she and her fiancée, Harold, have gone to wedding fairs and got most of their suppliers from there. She has gone on the internet and researched like crazy like any millennial bride is expected to do.

She is well aware of the biggest names in the Philippine Wedding Invitation Industry and yet here she is choosing me.